Luis Arana | Web Designer, Web Developer, Multimedia Guru » Web Development

How To Build a Basic CSS Layout

Luis Arana — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:44:55 +0000

Creating websites without using tables for layouts by using CSS layouts is the new standard for commercial web development. This article details how to create a basic 2 column CSS layout which you can use for future design projects.

1. Divide your page into sections – the

tags allows you to create seperate divisions on your web page. Each can be identified with a unique id. You can then add a style in CSS (called a selector) that specifically applies to the div of that id.

Remember to include the DOCTYPE (to render your page accurately in browsers) and include meta tags in the header of your document to enable search engines to spider your pages.

-wrapper: is the div that wraps around all the other divs like a container for the page elements.
-header: defines the top banner of the page
-main: defines the main content of the page
-nav: defines the navigation of the page
-footer: defines the footer and sub-navigation of the page

How to Build a Basic CSS Layout

Navigation

2. Create the CSS code – below is the CSS code that styles the page as a centered 2 column CSS layout with a navigation bar and a footer. The div#wrapper style creates the centered box which acts as a container for the rest of the page content. The width: 80% rule sets the width of the div. The background-color:#FFFFFF rule creates a white background for the div. The margin-top: 50px and margin-bottom: 50px rules create a space of 50 pixels for the top and bottom margins for the div itself.

The proper way to center a block-level element with CSS is to set margin-left: auto and margin-right: auto. This instructs the browser to automatically calculate equal margins for both sides, thus centering the div. The border: thin solid #000000 rule adds a border around the outer div. The rest of the CSS code styles the divs for the header, footer, nav, and main content.

The div#header and div#footer styles set margins and padding for those divs. In addition, div#header includes the text-align: center rule to center the header text, and div#footer includes the border-top: thin solid #000000 rule to create a border along the top edge of the div to replace the horizontal rule above the footer in the table-based layout.

The div#nav and div#main styles create the two columns in the middle of the centered box. In the div#nav style, the float: left rule pushes the div to the left side of its parent element (the wrapper div), and the width: 25% rule sets the div’s width to 25 percent of the parent element. With the nav div floated to the left and limited to a set width, it leaves room for the main div to move up to the right of the nav div, thus creating the two-column effect. The div#main style includes the margin-left: 30% rule to keep the main text aligned in a neat column instead of spreading out below the nav column. The main div’s left margin is set to a value slightly larger than the width of the nav div.

3. Create the side navigation menu – to build the left side navigation I use the normal CSS code for the different links ie

a:link {
text-decoration: none;
}
a:visited {
text-decoration: none;
}
a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
color: #FF0000;
}
a:active {
text-decoration: none;
}

If links are placed elsewhere on the page they will inherit the same properties as above..a blue link that hovers to red.

What if you wish to create another set of different colored links that change color and are underlined when your mouse passes over them?

4. Create the bottom navigation – to include the navigation in the

section of the page, I use div#footer and code each link accordingly. To make the list go horizontally I use: display: inline;

div#footer ul li{
color : #000000;
background-color : transparent;
display: inline;
}

div#footer ul li a{
color : #115EAC;
background-color : transparent;
text-decoration : none;
}

div#footer ul li a:hover{
text-decoration : underline;
}
–>

Now that I have finished creating my style sheet I want to shorten the code on page by linking it to my external style sheet. Here’s how:

5. Create an external style sheet – copy and paste all the css code (without these tags: ) into notepad and name it something like “style sheet”. Place this style sheet between the head tags of your web page like this:

This will reduce the code on your page so it will load fast plus the search engines can more easily spider your web page.

6. Add content to your page – after you have got your page looking correctly, you can add more content to it. Adjustments can easily be made to any style on the page (or your whole site) by simply editing one style sheet.

7. Upload your files – be sure to upload your web pages and style sheet to the root directory of your server.

8. Validate your code – be sure to validate your xhtml code: http://validator.w3.org/ and css code: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ and make corrections where necessary.

9. Check browser compatibility and screen resolution – check that your page renders well in the popular browsers (IE6, NN7, Firefox)

If you are beginning with CSS layouts, implement then slowly by making small changes to your pages i.e. creating a style sheet for your main headers and fonts only. As you become more familiar with CSS you may eventually build all your future sites with CSS layouts.

What is CSS?

Luis Arana — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:33:26 +0000

CSS was first developed in 1997, as a way for Web developers to define the look and feel of their Web pages. It was intended to allow developers to separate content from design so that HTML could perform more of the function that it was originally based on – the markup of content, without worry about the design and layout.

CSS didn’t gain in popularity until around 2000, when Web browsers began using more than the basic font and color aspects of CSS. And now, all modern browsers support all of CSS Level 1, most of CSS Level 2, and some aspects of CSS Level 3.

Web Designers that don’t use CSS for their design and development of Web sites are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. And it is arguably as important to understand CSS as it is to know HTML – and some would say it was more important to know CSS.

CSS is an Abbreviation

It stands for Cascading Style Sheet.

Style sheet refers to the document itself. Style sheets have been used for document design for years. They are the technical specifications for a layout, whether print or online. Print designers use style sheets to insure that their designs are printed exactly to specifications. A style sheet for a Web page serves the same purpose, but with the added functionality of also telling the viewing engine (the Web browser) how to render the document being viewed.

Cascade is the special part. A Web style sheet is intended to cascade through a series of style sheets, like a river over a waterfall. The water in the river hits all the rocks in the waterfall, but only the ones at the bottom affect exactly where the water will flow. The same is true of the cascade in Web style sheets.

Every Web page is affected by at least one style sheet, even if the Web designer doesn’t apply any styles. This style sheet is the user agent style sheet – the default styles that the Web browser will use to display a page if no other instructions are provided. But if the designer provides other instructions, the browser needs to know which instructions have precedence.

For example, in my Web browser, the default font is “Times New Roman” size 16. But nearly no pages I visit display in that font family and size. This is because the cascade defines the second style sheets set by the designers to redefine the font size and family and override my Web browser’s defaults.

Where is CSS Used?

CSS is used to style Web pages. But there is more to it than that. CSS is used to style XHTML and XML markup. This means that anywhere you have XML markup (including XHTML) you can use CSS to define how it will look.

CSS is also used to define how Web pages should look when viewed in other media than a Web browser. For example, you can create a print style sheet that will define how the Web page should print out and another style sheet to display the Web page on a projector for a slide show.

Why is CSS Important?

CSS is one of the most powerful tools a Web designer can learn because with it you can affect the entire mood and tone of a Web site. Well written style sheets can be updated quickly and allow sites to change what is prioritized or valued without any changes to the underlying XHTML.

The challenge of CSS is that there is so much to learn. But it doesn’t seem like it. After all, there are only around 60 properties in CSS Level 1 and around 70 in CSS Level 2. Compared with the number of HTML tags and attributes to learn, that can feel like a cake walk.

But because CSS can cascade, and combine and browsers interpret the directives differently, CSS is more difficult than plain HTML. But once you start using it, you’ll see that harnessing the power of CSS will give you more options and allow you to do more and more things with your Web sites.

What is AJAX?

Luis Arana — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:33:02 +0000

The Simple Answer:

Ajax is a technique using Javascript and HTML to change web pages without refreshing the page.

The Complex Answer:

Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a method of building interactive applications for the Web that process user requests immediately. Ajax combines several programming tools including JavaScript, dynamic HTML (DHTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), cascading style sheets (CSS), the Document Object Model (DOM), and the Microsoft object, XMLHttpRequest. Ajax allows content on Web pages to update immediately when a user performs an action, unlike an HTTP request, during which users must wait for a whole new page to load. For example, a weather forecasting site could display local conditions on one side of the page without delay after a user types in a zip code.

Google Maps is one well-known application that uses Ajax. The interface allows the user to change views and manipulate the map in real time. Ajax applications do not require installation of a plug-in, but work directly with a Web browser. Because of the technique’s reliance on XMLHttpRequest, early applications worked only with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, but most other browsers now support Ajax.

Applications created with Ajax use an engine that acts as an intermediary between a user’s browser and the server from which it is requesting information. Instead of loading a traditional Web page, the user’s browser loads the Ajax engine, which displays the page the user sees. The engine continues to run in the background, using JavaScript to communicate with the Web browser. User input or clicking on the page sends a JavaScript call to the Ajax engine, which can respond instantly in many cases. If the engine needs additional data, it requests it from the server, usually using XML, while it is simultaneously updating the page.

Ajax is not a proprietary technology or a packaged product. Web developers have been using JavaScript and XML in combination for several years. Jesse James Garrett of the consultancy firm Adaptive Path is credited with coining the name “Ajax” as a shorthand way to refer to the specific technologies involved in a current approach.

SEO Basics

Luis Arana — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:56:24 +0000

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, also referred to as “SEO” is as much an art as a science and the standards and practices are ever changing. Every search engine and directory uses different algorithms and formulas to calculate a site’s position in their search results. Meta tags should be placed between the section of your HTML document.

Keywords
When optimizing a site I generally try to use 25 keywords or less on the page. The first and most important keywords should be your individual brand and related terms, so if your site is called “Revolution Clothing”, your first keywords should look something like:

The next words should be geographic and industry terms that fit your brand…
urban wear, street clothes, new york, urban clothes, designer, ny, nyc, brooklyn…
If you still haven’t reached your 25 keywords, use general industry words that you think people might seach for….
shirts, jackets, pants, hoodies, wrist bands, hats, caps
So now you should have a basic keyword list to start with. We’ll refine these later when we look at our hit statistics and see which keywords are generating traffic and which aren’t. Your keywords should look something like this:

Description
SEO description tags should be customized for each individual page of your site. Properly implemented description tags can mean the difference between a click for your website or your competitor’s. Description tags are often the first impression your users will get of your website and the first information search engines will dipslay regarding your brand. Don’t make them too long or the will be shortened by search engines. Try to use 132 characters or less:

Page Title
Your page title is very important as it is the headline that will be displayed by search engines. It is given alot of weight by many search algorithms so make it as descriptive as possible. Your title tag is placed in the section of your HTML document. It will look something like this:

Website URL
Most search engines also give weight to search results where the search terms are included in your website URL. Try to purchase a URL that identifies your brand or at least your industry. Here are some examples.
www.revolutionclothing.com
www.revolution-clothing.com
www.revolutionnyc.com
www.revolutionnewyork.com

Multimedia Content
Unknown to the owners and operators of many sites, especially those with heavy flash, video and multimedia content, is that many sites that are beautiful to look at and highly informational are also invisible to search engines! Search engines rely on text based information and can’t see the content of your videos, flash presentations or images. That’s why it’s essential to code these multimedia features with search engine optimization in mind.
If you are using flash in your site, It’s important to place some decriptive text in your page behind the flash content. Search engines can’t see the information that your flash file contains. If you make your site entirely in flash, it may appear to be a collection of blank pages to the search engine robots. Usually when embedding flash content into your site, you’ll see and tags in the source code. Simply put your descriptive text before thetag for each flash file and that information will be invisible to users who have flash enabled but readable by search engines. This is a good practice because your users may not have flash installed or may be accessing your site from a mobile device without flash capabilities. They will also see the alternate text. Here’s an example:

TYPE DESCRIPTION TEXT HERE. Try to copy as much of the text in the flash file here as possible. you can use HTML to deliver alternate content as well.
XML Sitemap
You should create XML and HTML sitemaps for your site. Sitemaps are used in the search engine ranking process to find relevant search terms throughout your site. A well defined sitemap will ensure higher search results as well as establish your site as a leader in your industry, making search engines and directories more likely to provide extra emphasis and higher priority to your site. There are many automated sitemap creators available free online. You don’t need to know XML to implement one. Google’s webmaster tools is an excellent free service that will walk you through the process of creating and installing an XML sitemap.

Meta robots
Search engines use automated programed called “robots” to “crawl” your site for information. creating what’s known as a robots.txt file on your server will help search engines to index your site properly. create a textfile and name it robots.txt . Upload it to the root level of your ftp directory. You can read more about cusomizing a robots.txt file for various purposes, but a basic robots file that will tell search engines to index your entire site would look like this:

User-Agent: *
Allow: /

W3C validation
While not every web designer is a hand coding HTML expert, it’s imporant that your site is as error free as possible. You can check the validity of your code by using the free validator at http://www.w3c.org .

Search engine and Internet Directory submission
While search engine submission isn’t as important as it once was, It’s still a good idea to manually submit your site to search engines and directories. Everywhere there is a link to your site on the internet means more traffic for your site. There are automated search engine submission software available for free. It can put a link to your site on hundreds if not thousands of websites and bring in that extra traffic to your website. Akin to a press release, these submissions let the world know that your site is open for business. It also provides link-backs from these sites generating more traffic and increasing the chances of a higher ranking for your site.

Internet Link seeding
Related to Search engine submission above, this process involves posting messages and comments on various websites, bulletin boards, and blogs mentioning your services and providing a link to your site. These “seeds” generate additional traffic for your website as well as increasing your page ranking in search engines. The more your site is mentioned in different websites on the web, the higher your search rankings and traffic will be. Go to message boards and blogs related to your industry and comment on some of the articles. You can mention your site and provide a link. Many of these sites allow a “signature” to be attached to your messages. Use a link to your site or even a banner as your signature and you’ll generate even more traffic.

Register for a free Google Analytics account
Sset up a free account with Google that allows access to website traffic and statistical information in incredible detail. Google Analytics can deliver near real-time statistics that can provide essential feedback for your site. Analytics answer all of the following questions on a daily basis and provide detailed reports and graphs.
How many people visit my site?
What geographic locations are they visiting from?
What are the keywords and phrases visitors are using to find me?
What sites are sending me the most traffic?
What devices, operation systems, and browsers are my visitors using?
What are the most visited pages and features of my site?
There is no “magic bullet” for search engine optimization and no company can guarantee a number 1 position for a particular word or phrase. Those that make such dubious claims should be viewed with suspicion. A good SEO strategy requires hard work, expertise, and persistence. Because of the nature of the world wide web it can take weeks or even months for even the best SEO practices to bear fruit, but when they do the results are well worth the effort.

What is XML?

Luis Arana — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:52:11 +0000

What is XML?

XML is short for eXtensible Markup Language